I gave her a shaky smile in return. “Everyone calls me Cass.”
She picked up my hand and held it in hers. “Well, Cass, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m so glad Troy finally got you in the diner.” While I opened and closed my mouth like an idiot trying to think of something to say, Grace let go of my hand and moved back to business. “Now what’s everyone having? My apple pie is fresh and coffee is brewing now.”
Everyone ordered waffles and a cup of coffee, including me. Grace reminded us to behave and disappeared to get our drinks, leaving us to sit in the wake of that awkward conversation.
Or at least me.
“What did your aunt mean by what she said to Cass?” Gina asked. She pinned Troy in place with her laser vision and I actually felt afraid of her on his behalf.
He shrugged and stared at the napkin he was currently turning into a triangle. “She was just being nice.”
Gina wasn’t about to give up. “But what did she mean when she said that she was glad youfinallygot Cass into the diner?”
Troy tightened the edges of his triangle napkin. “Oh, did she say that? I… I… don’t know what she meant by that.”
Gina slapped the table. “You’re a liar.”
I watched the top of Troy’s ears turn bright red and some of the awkwardness I felt faded.
Mikey leaned forward, slapping Troy loudly on the back. “Leave my man alone, Gina. So he’s had a little crush on the goth queen. Ain’t nothing to be ashamed of.”
Troy’s cheeks were just as red as his ears now and I felt my face match the tomato color.
Gina laughed loudly and clapped her hands together. “Shut up!”
Poor Troy. He shifted in the booth, but now the napkin was in tatters. “Some friend you are,” he complained to Mikey. “Don’t you know when to keep your mouth shut?”
Mikey threw his hand toward me. “Oh, come on, dude. You threatened that kid in your biology class for the tickets to the show and you’ve been handsy with her all night. Surely she figured it out by now.”
My mouth dropped open and my eyes bugged out of my head. “You threatened someone in your biology class?”
Troy still wouldn’t look at me. I half expected him to start burning a hole in the table by how hard he was staring at it. Then at least my superhuman suspicions about him would be correct.
“He was a total Dexter,” Mikey laughed. “He nearly pissed his pants!”
“Get out!” Gina gasped.
Troy’s head snapped up and glared at her. “I didn’t really threaten him. I just… I just suggested that I might need the tickets more than he did.”
Mikey slapped Troy on the back again. “He told the kid he’d steal the poor guy’s girlfriend if he didn’t cough up the tickets.”
“Troy Albert Cameron,” I murmured. I couldn’t decide if I was flattered or horrified.
His gaze finally moved to mine. My heart squeezed for him, empathetic for how embarrassed he was. But when he started talking, he sounded just as cocky as always. “I wouldn’t have really done it,” he swore. “I was just in a hurry.”
“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask, even though I had a pretty good idea already. “Why did you do it?”
His leg started bouncing erratically under the table. The toe of his boot still touched mine and the jerky movement made my entire body vibrate.
But I didn’t pull away.
“You needed a ride,” he confessed.
I thought of something else. “The English project?” He had been dancing around what it was all day. And he didn’t seem to care at all that I didn’t have my notebook.
His lips twitched, but he restrained his smile. “Hey, listen, I’ve been trying to talk to you all semester. You haven’t given me the time of day.”
I grabbed a napkin, balled it up and threw it at him. “You’re unbelievable!” I thought of something else and I nearly smacked him. “You’re not skipping practice are you? Because even I’m not worth that!”
